Not your Trophy Club Tuscan

Highland Park transplants find Italianate Zen in the ’hood not your trophy club tuscan

“The people who lived here before us had such vision. All we did was move in.”

Mike and Becky casey raised their three children in a 1929 highland Park Mansion. a few years ago, they found themselves empty nesters amid 6,500 square feet of 80-year-old house. they say they were tired of checking the sump pump in their basement every time it rained and otherwise maintaining the beautiful but aging home. Besides, they wanted to find a new perspective, a next chapter. “We weren’t ready for high-rise living,” Becky says. “We’re still young.” so after 36 years in the hP, the caseys replanted here in oc after putting contracts on two oak cliff houses that sold quickly to other buyers, the caseys found their 2,600-square-foot tuscan-style home in east kessler. “We were so disappointed, and then we found this house, which is way better than the others. it’s perfect for us,” Becky says. its previous owners, todd Fiscus and rob dailey, put it on the market one day in June 2011, and the caseys snapped it up. they put in a contract the same day. the home’s l-shaped floor plan faces a veranda with comfy chairs around the fireplace, a dining table and a daybed. a fountain in the shady courtyard sets a tone for the home’s energy. its informality enhances its elegance.

“We feel very lucky,” Becky says.

Jim Martinez and Jim Fissel built the house in 1994 on land they bought from the adjacent neighbor. theirs was the first home ever built on that lot.

“the people who lived here before us had such vision,” Becky says. “all we did was move in.” the term “tuscan architecture” can evoke eye rolls because of overuse to tacky extreme all over suburban texas. But this is not that. there is no terrazzo tile or any kind of fake fresco. the simple white stucco façade arrows up to a red tile roof. tiered gardens in front feature dogwood trees and mostly white-blooming plants. interior archways are impeccably designed.

“We just marvel at it,” Mike says. “the